Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok by Bus via Hat Yai

The fastest way from KL to Bangkok by bus is to first take one of the many morning departures or overnight buses from Kuala Lumpur to Hat Yai (the largest city in southern Thailand and just 50 kilometres over the Thai / Malaysia border).

All bus companies offer either luxury Express, Executive or VIP buses and are quiet comfortable, with a journey time of around 8 hours (depending on traffic and time taken to cross the border at Sadao border crossing)

Bus tickets from KL to Hat Yai start at around 60 MYR upwards, depending on how luxurious the bus is.

Once you arrive in Hat Yai, get dropped off at the bus station (many of these buses continue on to the centre of the city) which should be the first stop the bus makes in Hat Yai, as it is located to the south of the city.

From Hat Yai to Bangkok by bus you have a choice of buses from the Government run bus company (buses leave from inside the bus terminal) or more comfortable private luxury and VIP bus companies that usually sell their tickets through agents that surround the terminal.

The most popular buses leave Hat Yai in the evening and take around 13 hours to travel overnight to the capital.

If you are not in a hurry, you can take a less direct route from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok by bus, with dozens of places to stop along the way.

A popular way to go would be to travel from KL to Penang, then take a ferry to Langkawi, cross the border to Hat Yai, then off to Krabi or Phuket on the west coast of Thailand or the islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan or Ko Tao on the east coast.